When the NFL schedule was released in the spring, the Buffalo Bills week one match-up with the Ravens brought my memory of the January 19th Divisional Round playoff game, and its one critical and decisive play, back to the surface of my consciousness. Having just scored a touchdown to narrow the margin to two points with a minute and a half remaining, the Ravens needed a two-point convert to tie and send the game to overtime on that wintry Orchard Park night. Along with the entirety of Bills Mafia, I was worried about this prospect as the Ravens had momentum in their favour and the Bills defence, having benefitted from three turnovers already, looked spent. Tension in the stadium was palpable as the Ravens lined up for their attempt and as the well-crafted play developed, leaving tight-end Mark Andrews open in the front right corner of the endzone, I had already begun to foresee how the overtime might play out. Lamar Jackson’s pass was perfect – not too high, not too low and placed squarely into Andrews’ breadbasket. As the pass reached him, I think I may have looked away for a split second in disappointment, perhaps to process the unfortunate turn of events and to contemplate the ensuing risk and stress of overtime. The next thing I remember seeing was the eruption of Bills fans on the goal-line behind Andrews as he had somehow let the ball slip out of his hands and onto the thin layer of snow beside him. An easy recovery of an onside kick, one more first down and it was time for victory formation for Buffalo.
For the Baltimore Ravens, for Mark Andrews and Lamar Jackson
personally, for John Harbaugh and his coaching staff, the 232 days which have
passed since that cold January night surely included reliving that particular
play over and over. The schedule-maker’s gift of the earliest possible chance
at redemption in the first game of the new season in the very same stadium provided
the Ravens the ultimate motivation as last night approached. Add in the
kick-off of the 20th season of Sunday Night Football (the top-rated
television show in the US), a huge national audience and arguably the best week-one
match-up on the slate, and the Ravens could not have asked for a
better-scripted opportunity to once again establish themselves as the team with
the best chance at securing the AFC’s top seed. A week one match-up with
playoff and potential tie-breaker implications made this a pretty compelling
game all around.
A clear pattern has taken shape over the past five years when
the Bills face the Kansas City Chiefs with Buffalo winning the regular season
games and the Chiefs winning the playoff games regardless of which team plays at
home. Last season, the Bills lost badly in Baltimore early on in the regular
season but held on for a 27-25 home playoff win four months later. Will the same pattern emerge
with the Ravens? With last night’s incredible and unlikely one-point win, Bills
fan obviously hope not. I’d say that the Bills would prefer not to see the
Ravens again at all but another home playoff game against them in January seems
likely.
Josh Allen said after the game to NBC’s Melissa Stark that
those fans who left in the fourth quarter with the team down by 15 points should
“have some faith next time”. Well, as was pointed out on the broadcast, the
last time that the Bills came from behind after being down by 15 points in the
fourth quarter was in 1967 – some six years before Rich Stadium opened. Sixty
years later, the Bills treated their fans (those who stayed) to a thrilling
comeback in the stadium’s final home opener after being shredded by Derrick Henry
and Lamar Jackson for most of the game.
Speaking of Henry, the Ravens dominant and powerful running
back racked up 169 yards on 18 carries (it seemed like more) with two
touchdowns (also seemed like more) for an average of 9.4 yards per carry (seems
about right) and was a terror for the Bills undersized front. For his part, Bills
DT Ed Oliver did his own terrorizing (as Chris Collinsworth mentioned more than
once on the broadcast) with a brilliant sack and another key tackle-for-loss of
Henry. He also generated the game’s only turnover at a key time in the fourth
quarter by knocking the ball from Henry’s hands and setting up what would have
been the game’s tying touchdown drive had the Bills not failed on their third
two-point conversion attempt of the night. Then and only then did the Bills
defence find a way to get a key three-and-out which set up the game winning
drive, culminating with 58-year-old Matt Prater hitting a short field goal as
time expired.
Ok, Prater is 41 years old and Buffalo is his seventh NFL team.
Before Thursday, he was not on any team’s roster or practice squad but
continued to hone his craft at a high school somewhere in Arizona. After a
red-eye flight to Buffalo Thursday night, he now finds himself the toast of the
town after a perfect night, hitting three field goals and two extra points.
After their thrilling opening week win, the Bills now travel
to the Meadowlands of New Jersey to face the New York Jets who came up short in
their own home opener yesterday against the Steelers. It’s been 35 years since
I took in a Bills road game which was a 34-30 playoff loss to the Browns at
Cleveland’s ancient Municipal Stadium in January of 1990. Ronnie Harmon dropped
the winning touchdown pass from Jim Kelly on the game’s second-last play. I’m
hoping for a better result next week against the Jets and I’m looking forward
to visiting NYC. In addition to Sunday’s game, we’re seeing Wicked on Broadway,
touring the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, taking a
boat cruise around Manhattan Island, museums etc. Fireman Ed, I’m coming!
